Message from OFDA's Senior Management Team
Like many government entities, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance has functioned without an officially appointed office Director since the change of Administrations in January 2009.
The lack of a Director, however, does not stop OFDA from fulfilling its mission of saving lives, alleviating suffering, and reducing the social and economic impact of disasters. OFDA’s highly experienced management team and its expert and extremely dedicated staff members worldwide continue to ensure that the U.S. Government responds rapidly to new and ongoing international disasters. Our work never stops.
In the first 10 weeks after the inauguration of President Obama on January 20, 2009, OFDA responded to eight new international disasters, including flooding in Colombia, Angola, Namibia, and Solomon Islands, a pest infestation endangering crops in Liberia, a cyclone and political violence in Madagascar, and an earthquake in Italy.
In addition, OFDA continued its response to the global food price crisis as well as to ongoing long-term complex emergencies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and elsewhere. OFDA provided new funding of $129 million for 92 disaster relief and disaster risk reduction programs in more than two dozen countries during the first 10 weeks of the new Administration, with particular emphasis on humanitarian needs in health, nutrition, water and sanitation, and food security.
On this web site, OFDA continues to provide timely information and analysis about humanitarian emergencies around the world. In recent weeks, OFDA staff have produced public fact sheets and situation reports on Sudan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Chad, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as regular internal updates for U.S. government policy-makers.
The professionals who work at OFDA know first-hand that international disasters do not follow a strict schedule and do not pause to accommodate management changes. The American public is right to expect that OFDA will continue to fulfill its international responsibilities competently and effectively. Disaster victims are entitled to the same high expectations.
In that spirit, the work of OFDA carries on without interruption.
Back to Top ^
|
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
